Santa Cruz de Tenerife has set itself the ambitious goal of increasing the number of trees in its public spaces by a third as part of a major plan to make the city a greener capital.
Details of a comprehensive new plan to make the city more attractive and healthier were unveiled by mayor José Manuel Bermúdez and council officials yesterday. The plan sets out 125 individual actions to be undertaken in the coming decade to spruce Santa Cruz up and make it “more breathable”.
The actions include a 30% increase in the number of trees (already over 100,000) and the pedestrianisation of a series of key roads and spaces, which will receive a major boost in terms of natural vegetation and other green elements. Buildings will also be encouraged to make greater use of greenery on their balconies and fronts.
In addition to more cycle lanes, green corridors will be created to link the city’s parks and public spaces and a number of locations will be converted into what the council has termed “therapeutic gardens” where residents and visitors will be able to interact with nature and improve their physical and mental wellbeing.
Mayor Bermúdez acknowledged that Santa Cruz’s growth in recent times had taken little account of the need to incorporate more nature and the lessons learnt will be a key factor in the success of the new plan, which he described as “a paradigm shift”.
“The new trees will be more suited to Santa Cruz’s conditions and more resistant” added the mayor, who admitted that previous tree planting exercises had not been successful due to choosing the wrong species, leading to many trees having to be cut down due to their current state.
Photo: Ayuntamiento Santa Cruz de Tenerife
